People's Institute for Survival & Beyond

What People's Institute for Survival & Beyond does

People's Institute for Survival & Beyond (PISAB) is a 501(c)(3) national anti-racist organizing and training collective founded in 1980 by Dr. Jim Dunn and Ronald Chisom. Headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, with regional offices in Minneapolis/St. Paul (People's Institute North, est. 2000), New York (People's Institute Northeast), and Seattle (People's Institute Northwest), the organization delivers anti-racism training, community organizing programs, and consulting services to educational institutions, government agencies, child welfare organizations, nonprofits, criminal justice entities, faith communities, and grassroots groups across every U.S. state and select international locations. PISAB claims to have trained more than 2 million people since founding.

PISAB's core product is the Undoing Racism®/Community Organizing Workshop, a 2.5-day intensive grounded in 40+ years of curriculum development that delivers a shared language and analysis for examining racism at individual, institutional, linguistic, and cultural levels. The methodology is anchored by ten anti-racist organizing principles (Analyzing Power, Developing Leadership, Identifying Manifestations of Racism, Learning from History, Undoing Internalized Racial Oppression, etc.) and is delivered by 100+ multiracial organizer-trainers. Complementary offerings include Reflection/Assessment & Evaluation (RAE) consulting, the People's Institute Youth Agenda (PIYA) with Freedom Schools, the Communiversity educational platform housed at the TEP Center, and the Healing the Generations multidisciplinary conference.

Commercially, PISAB operates a fee-for-service revenue model where organizations and individuals pay for workshop participation, supplemented by donations (monthly sustainer programs, one-time gifts, donor-advised funds) and merchandise sales via the online PISWAG shop. Named customers span higher education (Columbia College Chicago, Columbia University, Tulane), K-12 (Seattle Public Schools, McComb Public Schools), government (Texas Child Protective Services), foundation/nonprofit (Casey Family Programs, Y USA, Urban Bush Women), and child welfare and criminal justice systems. The organization conducts 20–30+ workshops per month and is currently led by Executive Director Dr. Kimberley Richards following the extended tenure of co-founder Ronald Chisom.

Name

People's Institute for Survival & Beyond

Legal name

People's Institute for Survival and Beyond

Website

https://pisab.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

PISAB is a 501(c)(3) anti-racist organizing collective founded in 1980, delivering its trademarked Undoing Racism® workshops, consulting, and youth programs to educational institutions, government agencies, nonprofits, and community groups across the United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Anti-Racism Training and Community Organizing Services

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311), Educational Support Services (611710)

akta.pro primary industry

Racial & Ethnic Justice Organizations (BPAGAFAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Human Rights & Anti-Discrimination Organizations (BPAGAFAB)

Keywords

• Anti-racism training
• Community organizing workshops
• Diversity education services
• Nonprofit consulting services
• Anti-racist leadership development

Headquarters

HQ city

New Orleans

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Workshop Registration Fees: Fee-for-service model where organizations and individuals pay to attend Undoing Racism®/Community Organizing workshops. For over 40 years, PISAB relied almost entirely on fee for service funds to run the organization.
2. Donations and Fundraising: Friendraising and donations from supporters, including monthly sustainer programs, one-time contributions, and donor-advised fund contributions. EIN: 72-1160700.
3. Merchandise Sales: Sale of PISAB branded merchandise through their online shop (PISWAG) to support operations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

PISAB is a national multiracial anti-racist collective founded in 1980 that delivers the signature 2.5-day Undoing Racism®/Community Organizing Workshop, Reflection/Assessment & Evaluation (RAE) consulting, the People's Institute Youth Agenda (PIYA) Freedom Schools, and the Communiversity educational platform. The organization trains participants to analyze systemic racism, develop a common anti-racist vocabulary, and build strategies for community-level organizing.

Product overview

The People's Institute for Survival and Beyond (PISAB) is a national, multiracial anti-racist collective offering educational and training programs rather than a traditional software product company. Its core offerings include the Undoing Racism®/Community Organizing Workshop (signature 2.5-day training), Reflection/Assessment & Evaluation consulting services, the People's Institute Youth Agenda (PIYA) with Youth Freedom Schools, the Communiversity educational platform, and regional office-based training across PIN, PINE, and PINW. PISAB also participates in events such as the Healing the Generations Conference. All programs are grounded in anti-racist organizing principles focused on understanding, analyzing, and undoing systemic racism through community organizing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Undoing Racism®: The signature workshop and registered trademark of PISAB, a 2.5-day community organizing workshop that analyzes systemic racism.
• Communiversity
• People's Institute Youth Agenda (PIYA)
• Reflection, Assessment & Evaluation (RAE)

Products and services

• Undoing Racism®/Community Organizing Workshop PISAB's signature 2.5-day intensive workshop providing participants with a common language and analysis for examining the forms of racism (individual, institutional, linguistic, cultural) and developing strategies for anti-racist community organizing. Delivered virtually and in-person to host organizations and via regional offerings.
• Reflection, Assessment & Evaluation (RAE) Consulting Technical assistance and consulting service that helps organizations state, observe, and measure their vision and values with anti-racist organizing principles as the foundation, supporting deeper institutional change beyond introductory workshops.
• People's Institute Youth Agenda (PIYA) / Youth Freedom Schools Youth organizing program providing Freedom Schools that teach anti-racist principles, history, culture, community organizing skills, and leadership development to young people ages 10-16 and beyond, adapted from PISAB's Undoing Racism model.
• Communiversity Educational platform at the TEP Center in New Orleans inviting community members, students, and scholars to learn, serve, and organize together through a multi-ethnic, multi-racial, multi-generational approach to anti-racist leadership development.
• Healing the Generations Conference Recurring multidisciplinary conference dedicated to exploring the transformative power of community in healing, bringing together community health workers, clinicians, faith-based leaders, child welfare advocates, social service professionals, policymakers, and artists.

Quantifiable outcome

• Trained over 2 million people since 1980
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• AshokaminorOthers · 1 January 2006Ronald Chisom was selected as senior fellow and inducted into Ashoka's Global Academy - a program for individuals seeking solutions to world's most urgent social problems.
• Leona Tate Foundation / TEP CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPISAB is the anchor partner with the Leona Tate Foundation for the TEP Center (Tate, Etienne, and Prevost Center), a mixed-use development dedicated to New Orleans Public School Desegregation, Civil Rights, and Black Life. The TEP Center will serve as the home of Communiversity, creating a learning environment for multi-ethnic, multi-racial anti-racist leadership development.
• Urban Bush WomencoreStrategic or Co-development Partner30+ year relationship including Artist in Residency program in Treme community in 1991. Currently, Undoing Racism Workshop is offered during Urban Bush Women's annual Summer Leadership Institute. Relationship based on mutual support and complementary visions grounded in community and accountability.
• Y USAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSix-year engagement with the largest social service provider in the country. Y USA brought together three cohorts of 75 social service providers through Undoing Racism process over five weeks virtually. African American CEOs of The Y held Town Hall on Unlearning Racism with Vice President Kamala Harris alongside PISAB's Interim Executive Director.
• Alembic Community DevelopersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner with Leona Tate Foundation in developing the TEP Center - a mixed-use development on the historic McDonogh 19 school building site.
• Various Educational InstitutionsminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNetwork of schools, universities, and educational organizations that host Undoing Racism workshops including McComb Public Schools, Seattle Public Schools, Tuckwila Public Schools, Columbia University, Tulane University, and many others.
• Various Child Welfare OrganizationsminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOrganizations hosting workshops including Texas Child Protective Services, Illinois Child Protective Services, Casey Family Programs, King County/Seattle Child Protective Services, and many others across the country.
• Various Criminal Justice OrganizationsminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCriminal justice system hosts including Texas Judiciary, King and Pierce County Judiciary, Los Angeles Juvenile Justice, Monroe Prison, and others.
• Native American Nations and ReservationsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLongstanding organizing work with Native American Nations including Grand Portage Reservation (MN), Rosebud Reservation, and Yupik organizers in Alaska.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Western States Center: Regional anti-racism organizing and training organization serving the Pacific Northwest and Mountain West; comparable methodology and grassroots training approach though smaller geographic footprint than PISAB.
• Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ): National network organizing white people and others for racial justice through training and base-building; comparable anti-racism training delivery and multiracial organizing approach.
• Race Forward: National racial justice organization that conducts anti-racism training, publishes research, and runs racial equity programs — directly comparable to PISAB's training and organizing mission with broader research/policy focus.
• National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ): Long-standing intergroup dialogue and anti-bias training organization offering workshops to schools, workplaces, and communities — directly comparable workshop-based anti-racism training model.

Broad incumbents

• NAACP: National civil rights organization with advocacy, organizing, and increasingly training programs addressing systemic racism; broader portfolio than PISAB but shares anti-racist organizing mission and multiracial coalition-building approach.
• Anti-Defamation League (ADL): Much larger national organization offering anti-bias training, A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE® Institute programming, and education programs for schools and workplaces; overlapping mission with broader portfolio including advocacy and Holocaust education.
• Southern Poverty Law Center: Large civil rights organization with Teaching Tolerance/Learning for Justice program providing free anti-bias curricula and professional development to K-12 educators; overlaps in education-sector anti-racism training but operates at much larger scale.

Emerging players

• Interaction Institute for Social Change: Consulting and training organization helping institutions address race, equity, and inclusion through dialogue-based processes; comparable RAE-style consulting services to organizational clients.
• Center for Racial Justice Innovation (Race & Justice): Research and training center focused on racial justice in child welfare and family regulation systems; overlaps with PISAB's child welfare sector training work and anti-racist analysis framework.
• Equal Justice Initiative (EJI): Racial justice organization focused on criminal justice reform, lynching memorialization, and historical truth-telling; overlaps in racial justice framework and educational programming but specializes in criminal justice rather than general anti-racism training.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/UndoingRacism
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCEBzMxhOLslCRY0WWqm0l4g/videos
• Facebookfacebook.com/Undoing-Racism-136948116345981
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/people-institute

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about People's Institute for Survival & Beyond